


take me back to the light (i know you were too bright for me)

by chichamoradaoye



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Gen, There’s like four different types of Josie’s but oh well, for this one let’s just say landon and hope broke up a couple episodes before, wrote this before 2x16
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:28:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23340232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chichamoradaoye/pseuds/chichamoradaoye
Summary: “As Hope got up the only thing she noticed was the emptiness and the deafening silence. The only other time she's experienced such a feeling was in Malivore, but that's not where she is. Not now.No. She's in Josie's head. Her mind.”ORwhat should’ve happened in 2x16 instead of that... crack episode.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 6
Kudos: 171





	1. she’s the first one that i see (she lives in daydreams with me)

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. lets just pretend hope broke up with landon after the whole fire wings ordeal  
> 2\. i wrote this before 2x16 but procrastinated :)  
> 3\. can we talk about that ep? like... the hosie content... and kaylee’s look the entire episode... wow...
> 
> that’s all :) enjoy!

The last thing Hope Mikaelson remembers before the dark was the speech. 

"You are not Josie. I know that you think she's weak, but I know the truth. She's strong. No one could shoulder the burdens that you carry and you're always there for your friends when they need you. So please Jo, we really need you right now." 

"Shut up... Everybody shut up!" Josie stumbled to the corner of the ring. It was obvious both Josie's were fighting over dominance of her body. 

"Jo?" Hope whispered. 

"Hope?" 

Then, the falling.

Then, the Merge. 

Then, pitch black.

As Hope got up the only thing she noticed was the emptiness and the deafening silence. The only other time she's experienced such a feeling was in Malivore, but that's not where she is. Not now. 

No. She's in Josie's head. Her mind. 

"Lumen!" The tribrid says, summoning light in her hand. She knows exactly what part of Josie's mind she's in. The black magic. "Invenire lux!" The light in her palm suddenly finds its way to a small gate. "Thank you for your random magic rants Aunt Freya." She mutters to herself. Without a second thought, Hope opens the gate. 

This time, she wakes up in what seems like the Salvatore School. A sudden honey-like voice startles her. 

"Why hello there! I'm Josie's subconscious!" 

Hope nearly gets whiplash from how fast she looks at Josi- the subconscious. Once she got her bearings back she stood up. "I'm-" 

"Hope Andrea Mikaelson, I know. I'm basically real life Josie just without a filter and internal." She gives a smile which to Hope rivals the sun. "So if you don't mind me asking, what're you doing here?" She asks. 

"I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Josie's not Josie. Or I guess you're not... you. The black magic has taken over your body. But I know my Josie is in here somewhere." Hope says. "She came out for a couple seconds just minutes ago. I have to find her... I have to save her. After all... it's my fault that she got into this mess." She finishes, nearly begging (which if you asked, she would disagree). 

"Oh yes, I've tried my best to get a hold of the body again, but only actual Josie can do it. Well it's simple really." She beams. "You have to find Josie! Set her free from the inside and bada bing-bada boom she's out!" 

How the girl managed to explain that while maintaining the smile on her face, Hope remains questioning. "Great! So let's do that. I just have to play hide and seek in the school." Seems simple enough. 

Except for Hope and the others it never is. 

"About that..." Josie's subconscious speaks up. "You actually will have to enter her memories to find her. If she's not actually interacting in the memory then you know it's her. Last time I saw her to get her to come out, she was with her bio-mom. We'll start there." 

"We?" The tribrid asks. 

"Well of course! You expect me to let you wander around alone! You gotta keep in mind: I'm Josie's subconscious. Now let's get going before we run out of time." The brunette smiles before starting to walk. 

Hope snaps up. "Run out of time?!" She nearly shrieks. 

"Well... yeah. The dark magic is slowly consuming my functions. Eventually nothing can be done to stop it. Now let's go, Mikaelson. We don't have all day." And with that they're walking down their first corridor. 

The hall is filled with dark spruce woods with small dates engraved in them. The auburn haired girl stops at the engraved door she knows was when the twins met their Josette Laughlin. 

Once again she enters a new hall except now the events are more specific. 

"Which one should I choose?" Hope turns to Josie's subconscious. 

"Could be any one of these and at the same time none of these. I guess choose the one that stands out to you the most?" 

Hope nods and turns to the doors again. She lets her fingers trace each door before stopping at the one that most stuck out to her. The tribrid twists the doorknob and steps through. 

The first thing she sees is the grave she knows well. It's the one where her, Penelope, and MG find a gasping Josie with tears streaming down her face. Hope crouches down to where she knows Josie is suffering and almost attempts to dig her out. "We can't interact with the memories, nothing happens." Josie says as if she knows what Hope's thinking. 

From a distance she can hear herself yelling. "Damn it MG just get up and find her!" Followed by a "Got her." 

She watches as MG vamp-speeds to the grave closely followed by herself and Penelope. MG hesitates to grab the hand that pops out from the grave but eventually gives in once realizing that it's actually Josie. 

"The Talisman... it worked." She hears herself say. It's weird seeing herself. Almost like an out of body experience she notes. 

"What's it supposed to do?" Memory Josie asks, out of breath. 

"Make quiet things heard." 

And with that, Hope and Josie's subconscious got spewed from the memory and onto the hallway floor. Hope groans and she attempts to pick herself up, meanwhile Josie just hops back up as if nothing's happened. 

"So, why'd that memory stick out to you?" Sub-Josie innocently asks. 

Except Hope didn't know the answer to that question. Sure, it was really traumatizing for Josie, but why did the letters almost seem bold compared to the others? Why had it lured her in, almost like a trance? "I'm not sure..." 

Sub-Josie nods her head with a smile. "Okay well we still have to find me! Lead the way." 

Hope nods and exits the hall way from Josie's 16th birthday. Instead she allows herself to wander over to a white oak door that seemed like it could be placed in a dungeon. 

"The type of doors, do they mean anything?" The tribrid asks out of curiosity. Hope studies the door while waiting for a response. 

"Of course, the darker the door the darker the memory. I like to keep it tidy." Sub-Josie says almost proudly. "Anyways you should probably keep looking, the clocks ticking and I would really like to go back to doing my job." The brunette rushes.

With one last breath, Hope opens the hallway door. None particularly stand out until the last door at the end of the corridor with a bolded date, much like the last one. She stumbles through the door to see two figures walk past her as they talk. 

"Why do you always pick fights? We've known each other a decade and anytime you get the chance, you poke." Josie asks. Hope remembers what they were arguing about and sighs. 

"You guys do your fair share of poking." She nearly mocks herself and gets closer. 

"Yeah, in retaliation to your pokes." Josie says with no malice but it seems to hit Hope. "And with you spending so much time with my dad and keeping secrets..." 

"We're not keeping secrets!" 

"Oh yeah?" Josie challenges. "What happened when you went to go find Landon Kirby?"

"Nothing happened!" 

"Something clearly did happen! Rafael never showed up to school, my dad was rattled, so why won't you just tell me?" 

"Because there's nothing to tell- ah!" Hope watches as her past self accidentally stabs her foot and winces. She tried playing it cool but damn did it hurt like a bitch. 

Who knew, the world's most powerful being getting hurt being distracted by one Josette Saltzman... huh. 

"Oh my god!" Josie panics. 

"Ah! Ow." Hope groans what seems to be half sarcasm, half pain. 

"Are you okay? I mean what do I do?" 

"Help me pull it out!" 

"...What?" If it wasn't for the fact that Hope was in Josie's mind who's currently being overtaken by dark magic, she would've laughed at the scene playing out in front of her.

"I can heal myself, help me pull it out." 

Josie pulls on the stick and grunts when it comes out. A smile spread across her face. She slyly says: "You poked yourself." Which causes memory Hope to break out laughing, followed by Sub-Josie and Josie herself. 

The memory makes a warm feeling spread across Hope's chest. It doesn't last long as she's being thrown back into reality which was just another shut door. 

"Nothing, again." Sub-Josie frowns as she helps Hope back up. 

"No... wait you said the color of the door represents what type of memory it is?" Josie nods. "Well if I were trapped in my own mind, I'd want to go somewhere I love. I just need to go to a light door! She has to be in one of those." Hope speeds off past Josie's subconscious. She ends up face to face with the lightest door she could find on the first floor. "Like this! This day has to be it!"

"Wait! Hope-" Before Sub-Josie can finish, Hope is already touching a doorknob. Josie rolls her eyes when Hope jumps in, not paying attention to the actual subconscious of the person she's trying to find. "Damn it." 

Hope opens her eyes to find herself in Josie's room. She looks around to see said girl redecorating her room. The door opening scares both girls. 

"Hey Jo." Hope frowns as she see's Landon walking in. Oh no. 

"Merry Christmas I guess?"

"You know what's weird about Christmas? It's um.. the happiest and the saddest." Hope can feel her heart shatter and the girl's voice crack. 

"Can we start with the happy?" Landon interlocks their hands. The tears fall on Josie's face. "A person could not ask for a better partner... A better conscious. You are literally the best person that's ever had the poor judgement to hang out with me. I love the way you laugh, your upside down mouth, the way your face looks when you watch movies, and-" 

"You're in love with Hope." Josie bluntly says as if she just needed to have the confirmation. Hope finds herself crying along. She subtlety shakes her head. 

"But that doesn't mean I regret a single second. Because you are beautiful and special and perfect." Landon releases her hands. Doing the right thing should never be this hard." He finishes before walking out of the room. Hope shakes her head as Josie looks down and starts sobbing. The brunette slowly lets herself fall to the ground and Hope tries to catch her, only to have the figure fall through her. 

"Josie... No..." Hope says before falling out of the room and back into the hallway. Only then does she realize Sub-Josie trailing behind her. She clings onto Josie for what she wants to be a hug. "I'm so sorry. God, Josie I didn't know what Landon said to you but damn it I didn't think it was that! This entire thing is my fault. All of it. If I had never come back none of this would've happened and Josie would've never had to endure this. I caused all of this to happen and-" 

"Hope!" Sub-Josie shrugs her off. "You have to apologize to real Josie, not me. And even then, we were never mad at you for that. Hell, i'm not even sure she was mad at Landon, Okay?" Josie smiles. "Now come on, let's save me." When Hope doesn't move, Josie pulls her to a near golden door. 

"Why are we here?" The tribrid asks. Sub-Josie only nudges her towards the door. Hope decides to walk in. 

"Do you want anything? Aspirin, ice, some sparkling soda?" Lizzie says, plumping her sister's pillow with a smile. Josie looks at her oddly. 

"No, but you can sit down." She answers. 

The blond shyly smiles and snuggles next to Josie. "I'm sorry I didn't have your back with mud boy. And i'm really glad that you're okay." She finishes. 

A knock is heard and memory Hope walks in."Uh hi! Can I talk to Josie for a sec?" 

Lizzie and Josie turn to each other and Josie nods. "I'll go and get some ice." The blond nods and waltz's out. 

"How are you feeling?" Memory Hope asks.

"Used. But i'm glad you're okay." 

Hope smiles at the memory. She wishes this was where the whole Landon ordeal had ended.

"Are you okay?" 

"Yeah... yeah i'm just a little drained." 

"Yeah, I know the feeling." The tribrid smiles, slowly getting closer to the brunettes bed. 

"Yeah, you should get some rest." 

Hope now slides to the end of Josie's bed and sits, almost uncomfortably as if to not disturb Josie. "Oh yeah, I will. But uhm.. I wanted to know if It was okay with you if I came back to school. I miss it. I miss my classes, I miss morning meetings, the super squad, I even miss Lizzie being mean to me. I miss you. But I won't come back if my being here brings you any more pain." The pair stay silent until they hear a noise. "What's that?" She asks. 

"Penelope's burn book. Someone must be using her pen." Hope watches as Josie reads what she now knows is Landon's note. She rolls her eyes. 

"What is it?" 

"It's Landon." Josie almost groans. Memory Hope leans over to read the note. The pair read Landon's goodbye, which only lasted a week. 

The siphoner grabs Hope's hand and interlocks them. "He made his choice, we can make our own. Landon or no Landon you belong here. I want you to stay." She finishes, tightening her grip on memory Hope's hand. Hope can only wish Josie could do that again. 

"I'm really sorry." 

"Yeah, me too."

They stare at each other almost confused on what happens next. Thankfully both lean in and embrace in what Hope now knows is the last hug they share until the black magic is already in Josie. 

Hope wipes a stray tear and exits the memory with Sub-Josie in tow. A silence stretched out. 

"Why did you show me that?" Hope asks, successfully breaking the silence. 

"Remember how I said the type of door reflects how Josie thinks of the memory?" The brunette asks. Hope nods. "She kept that memory behind a golden door, okay. Josie forgave you in that moment, Hope. The events that happened after only hurt because it was a fresh wound, but even then she wasn't mad at you." Sub-Josie smiles, grabbing Hope's hand in her own. "Now please, save her. Save her and tell her everything you want to." 

"What do you mean?" Hope asks. 

"I think we both know. You're just very deep in denial. I mean damn, not even Josie knows and I am her, so." She chuckles. "But seriously Hope, follow your tribrid instincts and find her." 

So she does just that, letting her feet take her too a soft honey-colored door. "She's here." Hope states, not hesitating to step in. The tribrid watches as a 12 year old Josie Saltzman runs through her and towards what she recognized her own door. The child reaches into her pockets and pulls out a slip of paper that reads Hope's name in cursive. 

Hope tilted her head to the side in confusion. What memory was she in? 

The 12 year old slipped the note under Hope's door and walked away. The auburn-haired girl suddenly knew where she was. She followed the girl to the Saltzman's room where she saw Lizzie fuming on the bed. 

"Where were you, Josette? I've been waiting for you!" The blond all but yells. 

"I was just at the library. What did you need Liz?" Josie asks with a small smile. Lizzie scoffs as if it was obvious. "Are you gonna tell me?" 

"We're going to visit mom! I needed your help picking an outfit!" Lizzie's lets her arm fall. "And you weren't in the library I checked so stop lying. Were you stalking Hope Mikaelson?" She accuses. Josie takes a step back and shakes her head. 

"No-"

"Oh my god ,yes you were! Stop lying Josie! God why are you so obsessed with her!" Lizzie asks. 

"I'm not, Lizzie!" Josie yells back. 

The blond scoffs. "Why would you want to be friends with such a freak? Get over it, Josie. Don't be such a loser." She finishes and pushes past her sister. Josie shakes her head and wiped her tears with the hem of her shirt. Suddenly with a look of determination, she exits her room and makes a beeline to what Hope knows will be her room. 

Once Josie makes it, she tries to slide her hand under the door to no avail. She grunted and siphoned some magic from the school floor. "Ignalusa." She whispers with her eyes closed. The letter burns but with it, the floor. "No! No!" Hope watches as the small girl panics and attempts to open the older girls door. Alaric and Emma suddenly appear beside the girl, Hope's door bursts open. 

"Adspergine aquarum!" Emma yells and water sprayed from the ceiling. The flames were officially gone and the three of them sighed. "What happened, Josette?" 

Josie shakes her head and backs away. "I was just walking by, I didn't see." She lies, yet strangely Hope doesn't find herself mad at the younger girl. 

"Jos, go to your room and find Lizzie. I think we're going to have to postpone the Spring break trip." Alaric sighs. Josie sadly nods and runs away from the man. Hope doesn't follow her this time though. 

"Josie!" She yells in search of the brunette. "It's me, Hope! Where are you!" She continues. Hope runs to the girls room, nothing but a snappy Lizzie. She runs to Ric's office, nothing. She decides to run back to her room, maybe she could find a clue there. She realizes she was half-right, she didn't find a clue but she found Josie on her bed, crying into Hope's pillow. "Josie!" She says running up to the crying girl.


	2. it’s hard for me to go home (to be so lonely)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> continuation of last chapter! enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> second and final chapter! what’ll happen?

Josie snaps up and slides to the corner of the tribrid's room. "You're fake! You won't trick me again!" She yells. 

"Josie... what? It's actually me, okay? It's Hope." She says. Josie continues backing away. 

"No... no! No it's not! You're another trick, aren't you?! You're the black magic in me!" Josie states. Hope shakes her head with tears. 

"Jo... please it's me. I need you to fight! Fight for me please! Fight the black magic!" She places her hand on Josie's. 

"You're... you're you. You're really Hope." She whispers and throws herself into Hope's arm when the tribrid nods. "Oh my god! How're you here?! How did you get here?!" Josie asks, burying her face in Hope's neck. 

"I asked my aunt Freya and your aunt Bonnie for a spell that will get me into your mind to get you out. It took a bit to find you but we're here now." She smiled. 

"We're?" The brunette asks. 

"Pleasure to see you again." Sub-Josie smiles. Josie slightly nods. "Now not to ruin this little moment, but we need to get out of here." She rushes. 

"What do I have to do?" Josie questions. 

"You have to fight... you I guess. Basically you have to fight the black magic for your body back. Once you do, I have a spell from my aunt that can get rid of the black magic." Hope answers. The room suddenly starts shaking. "We have to go, now! Come on!" She grabs Josie's hand and steps out the memory. 

"It seems we are losing control of your body. You guys need to find the black magic and fight her, now!" Sub-Josie yells. Both girls hesitate.   
"As long as Josie lives I'll be fine! Go!" 

Both girls nod a thank you and run towards the exit. Once outside, Hope turns to Josie again. 

"You need to call for the black magic. The sooner you destroy her, the sooner we can leave." Hope yells and Josie nods. The tribrid watches as Josie closes her eyes. A few moments passed before Dark Josie was in front of them with a smirk on their face. 

"Oh, it's you two." She scowls. "Ready for a round two?" 

Hope scoffs and turns to Josie. "Listen Jos... I need you to fight, okay? I know you're scared, but you're amazing and you are stronger than anyone i've ever met before. I meant what I said in the boxing ring. No one could've stomached what you've been through, you are so much stronger than what you think! I believe in you. Please Jo, I need you." Hope smiles when Josie gets up. She's about to walk away but a hand wrapping around her waist stops her and turns her around. It's Hope wrapping her for a hug. When they break apart, Josie lets her lips fall on Hope's and smiles when Hope reciprocates the kiss. Both forgetting about their current predicament.

That is until Dark Josie groans. "God, can the lovebirds finish already? I've got plans to attend to." She smirks. Josie gives Hope one last smile before turning her attention to her fake reflection. 

"Etmittent!" Josie yells at the same time as Dark her yells "Rursus!" Causing the spells to throw each girl back to the ground. 

Hope watches as both Josie's stumble back up. "Inruina!" Dark Josie says and Josie gets pinned to the ground. 

“Damn it! Josie!” Hope says but before she can do anything, Dark Josie pins her against the school wall, choking her in the process. “Jo, Fight!” She struggles to yell. 

Josie grunts. “Let her go. Let her go!” She screams followed by Dark Josie chanting “Vertrum le caus!” Louder each time. Josie grips her head and yelps in pain. The brunette turns her head to see Hope on the brink of death. 

“STOP!” Josie whips her hand and throws Dark Josie against the wall, successfully knocking her out. Hope falls from the air and coughs, struggling to get air into her lungs. The siphoner runs to her, lifting her head into her lap. “Hope! Are you okay?!” 

Hope releases a breathy chuckle. “Am I okay? Jo, you just took on literal black magic!” She warmly smiles before grunting whilst getting up. Josie pulls her into another deep kiss and butterflies erupt in her stomach as she feels Hope pull her closer. That is until another voice interrupts them. 

“This is cute and all, it really is, but uh Dark us is knocked out right over there and we kinda need to destroy her.” Sub-Josie smiles and both girls jump apart. “Sorry!” She softly smiles at the two. 

“Right, thank you. Josie I need you to siphon and repeat after me.” Hope says and the brunette nods. “Phasmatos Tribum, Exum Sue, Redem Su Pas Quo. Phasmatos Tribum, Exum Sue, Redem Su Pas Quo! Phasmatos Tribum, Exum Sue, Redem Su Pas Quo!” They continuously repeat until The black magic slowly disintegrates and with that, Dark Josie. 

The girls stare at each other in astonishment as if they don’t even believe what they did truly happened. 

“We should probably talk.” Josie grimaces. 

“Probably. Did you have any awareness of what Dark Josie was doing while in control?” Hope hesitatingly asks. 

“All I remember is my subconscious running towards me and telling me I had a chance at leaving. I remember fighting the black magic and you, telling me to fight it. I was so happy to see you. God, it was a relief. But then it pushed me right back here.” She shakes her head as if to shake the memories. “What did dark me do?” Josie starts to worry. 

She nudges Hope’s hand as if she was begging. “She... well she did an array of things.” Hope starts. 

“Please Hope, I have to know.” Josie requests. 

“She killed Alyssa. Alyssa Chang. And she... well she tried to merge with Lizzie. We did a spell so it would tether her life to Landon’s. Lizzie’s alive. And the necromancer brought back Alyssa.” Hope finishes. Josie slowly backs away, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. 

“Oh god... I did those things... I tried killing Lizzie... and I killed Alyssa. I’m a monster!” She breaks down sobbing and lands on her knees. When Hope attempts to comfort the girl, Josie pushes her back. “I don’t deserve a happy ending, I don’t deserve to go back there!” 

“Hey, hey, Josie! They’re both alive, okay? And you didn’t do that. The black magic twisted version did. You’re innocent, and you deserve the best goddamn happiest ending out of all of us! Jo, you need to realize that even if it was you that did those things, which it was not, I’d still fight for you. We’d all fight for you. Because we love you. Now let’s go home and back to your family. You have nothing to be sorry for either. They know that.” Hope presses a kiss to Josie’s forehead. The brunette only nods. “Ready to face the music?” 

“Yeah. Yeah I am.” She takes Hope’s hand and they stand up together. 

“Voeci te reptando.” Hope says and Josie repeats with her. Soon, they’re back in the middle of the gymnasium surrounded by Lizzie, MG, Jed, Kaleb, and Alaric. Lizzie’s the first to wrap her arms around Josie and smiles. 

“Lizzie I’m so sorry I put you through everything I did! I’m so sorry to all of you.” She breaks away from Lizzie’s hug. “I understand if you want to punish me or... or like strip my magic away for a bit. Please I'm just... I'm so so sorry.” She breaks into tears again. 

Alaric wipes the wetness away from her face and pulls her into a tight hug. “Sweetie, we’d never. We know you weren’t in control. I’m just glad to have you back.” He pulls her tighter. MG and the others follow and embrace the smaller girl, murmuring an agreement. 

And all Josie can feel is content. 

“So what did we miss?” Hope asks. The others glance at each other before turning to tell them. 

———————

Later that night, Josie sits on the edge of Hope’s bed, picking at her pajamas while Hope was in her bathroom. “Are you sure you want to get rid of your abilities?” The tribrid asks. 

“Yeah... I think I need a break for a bit. You know I never said this in my subconscious, but i’m sorry again... for everything but mostly the fire.” She scratches the back of her neck. 

Hope smiles and sets herself across from the girl. “You’ve apologized to me before. And seeing you actually do only made me forgive you more. I saw how scared you were, Jo. It’s honestly fine.” Josie slowly nods but Hope knows she hadn’t believed it herself. “How are you feeling?” She asks. 

“I’m not sure. A bit of every emotion honestly. But mostly just... tired. I think I want to go to sleep now.” Josie states. Hope smiles and lays on the bed, patting the space next to her. Josie gladly takes the invite and as soon as she lays down, is wrapped tightly by the tribrid. “You’re warm.” 

“Thank you. Perks of being me I guess.” She jokes. “We’ll talk more tomorrow, mkay Jo?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Goodnight Jo.” 

“Mhm.” 

Hope nearly coos at the brunette soundly asleep in her arms but shakes her head as if to think of something else. She places another kiss on Josie's cheek and soon enough, finds herself in the arms of Morpheus as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> not heavily edited, i apologize for any and all mistakes. thanks for reading :)


End file.
